Jil Sander Moves On and Miu Miu Jumps In

Well, that was a quick stay. A spokesperson for Jil Sander has announced that after a scant five years, the brand will abandon its New York flagship at 11 East 57th street sometime this year in favor of two locations it is currently searching for. Lest you think that a covetable 7,000 square feet of prime retail space will become available, Miu Miu has announced that they will take over the shop. Since Prada owned Sander when the store opened, it's possible they had an advantage in securing the space for one of their other brands, and it's worth noting that other of Sander's prominent boutiques have been moved in recent years including locations in San Francisco and London.  Miu Miu has not announced whether this higher profile location will replace the Madison Avenue shop. Once a secondary collection, the line has recently been positioned for growth as a premier brand. Neither of its two New York boutiques has been able to show its complete offerings, and one presumes that this new showplace will present everything under one roof including the men's collections that are currently unavailable in their own stores. As for Jil Sander, what should have been a key flagship location for the luxury brand opened during a period of turmoil including the designer's on again, off again, then on again association with her eponymous label. It is unlikely that it was able to gain enough business momentum to justify what has to be an enormous rent for the former Hermès space. Now with new ownership and steady design leadership under Belgian Raf Simons that is pleasing critics and retailers, the brand is said to be developing a new retail format to reflect its new, more promising direction, and we will be interested to see where the new store(s) appear. Our guess is an uptown/downtown combo like, say Madison Avenue/Meatpacking District combo, or, if they are feeling daring, Hudson Street? Just a thought...

Brooks Brothers Steps Up Thom Browne Venture

Brooks Brothers announced this week that the much anticipated collection designed by rising men's designer Thom Browne would be expanded to include a women's line as well. The line will be called "Black Fleece", a reference to the iconic golden fleece that serves as the brand's symbol and appears on many of its labels as well as on polo shirts and other sportswear. Browne's name will not appear on the label, but will be used to promote the collection that will be found in about 30 Brooks Brothers stores this fall. The legendary retailer has been working hard to restore the quality and prestige of its name since 2001 when Retail Brand Alliance bought it from England's Marks & Spencer, who had traded the company's goods too far down. Still, the Black Fleece label will fall squarely in the upper range of the Designer category with suits retailing between $3,000 and $4,000, and special items going even higher. Clearly, they are working to attract a new customer to the store. While Browne's designs have their roots in Brooks-style classical tailoring, we're not sure what their typical customer would make of the designer's extreme shrunken proportions and eccentric details like a tuxedo in lacy point d'esprit or the removable bustle attached to an otherwise normal looking jacket that we have seen in stores this season. Browne's upcoming Fall signature collection was criticized by many for being overly extreme, self-indulgent and just plain inscrutable, though his penchant for mixing traditional male and female aesthetics could bode well for the women's portion of the line, so we are looking forward to seeing how he will adapt to the Brooks Brothers arena.

Latest Designer Link: Brooks Bros. to Unveil Thom Browne Women's (WWD)

Allegra Hicks Finds an Upper East Side Home on Madison

Lifestyle designer Allegra Hicks has arrived in New York amongst a series of fêtes to celebrate the opening of her first store here. The Italian-born Hicks has taken a roundabout way to the fashion business, having started as an interior designer. The store is designed by her husband Ashley, and features his furniture, but focuses on clothes. The apparel line has grown from it's beginnings in caftans and beach cover-ups, but retains a bohemian feeling. The Rich Hippie, it seems, will never go away especially if, as in this case, it's a very rich hippie. It's a a style that should easily please the store's Upper East Side neighbors. Most of the prices in the shop fall under $1000, but not by much, with most dresses hovering around the $600 to $800 range. Accessories and gift items are available as well, and shoes are represented by a single patent leather flat sandal made by Ferragamo. Hicks' high-profile social connections have fueled an enormous amount of publicity for her store opening. Now it's time for the shopping public to have its say.

Allegra Hicks 1007 Madison Ave at 78th Street, Upper East Side               

Goodbye Bang Bang. We'll Miss...um...We'll Notice You're Not There Anymore

Ah the fate of the poor, forlorn Bang Bang. Can we be surprised at the demise of the store in which nobody we know would ever admit to shopping? Or even walking into. Once the big 8th Street branch closed, we knew the Chelsea location couldn't be hanging around too much longer. We don't know what's become of the other two units in the chain. But, really, Bang Bang was more of an object of ridicule than a store for us. Consider the following sample exchange:

"You wouldn't believe I bought this at KMart!"
"Well, it's not like you bought it at Bang Bang or someplace like that."

Bang Bang had a special place as the epitome of tacky, janky and cheesy. It was the home of jeans that were cut too low, too flared, too tight, and most likely, too sparkly. Their merchandise was cheap, and looked it, but it was like those tranny hookers we used to see around the meatpacking district, one day they were gone, and things seemed a little blander.

Employee Of The Week: Ginger Hargett at Alessi

It has been forever since we have covered the shop clerks! Well, It's been forever since we had a shop clerk to cover, since the last time one ran in New York Magazine was in the beginning of  February, and, we have to admit, we skipped Aziz Osmani, the exotic foods and spices guy. It was Fashion week, we were busy. Sue us.
Anyhoo, this week we have the lovely and winsome Ginger Hargett from the Alessi store in SoHo. While we are glad to have the column back in action, we only wish Ginger could have offered a little more dirt on day-to-day life at the shiny Alessi store. Is it annoying to have that coffee bar taking up the front of the store? Is the constant fingerprint watch with all those sparkling products more pressure than a shopgirl should have to bear.? C'mon Ginger, spill it!
We could have guessed that the Michael Graves teapot would be the top item, and Ginger dutifully plugs new products including a vase designed by Zaha Hadid and a Peter Zumthor peppermill, which must have earned her a pat on the head from management. She fairly gushes over a toaster by Stefano Giovannoni.

If a kitchen appliance can be sexy, this is it. It’s really slim; it’s stainless steel. There’s a rack you can buy that goes on top of the toaster, and you can warm up a croissant or you can do paninis with it. It smooshes the sandwich down and heats it up. Your imagination can run wild in terms of sandwich options.

Well, as much as we love toast (and we really do), when our imaginations run wild, it doesn't involve toasters or sandwich options. We'll leave it at that. Ginger, you're adorable, but we certainly hope you get out more.

Ask A Shop Clerk: Ginger Hargett (NYMag)
Alessi 130 Greene Street between Houston & Prince, SoHo

More American Apparel Musings

If you are reading this page you won't want to miss Lucinda Rosenfeld's clever observations on American Apparel's global plans at Slate. She writes:

One recent afternoon, as I combed the racks at American Apparel, I realized that I owned a substantial portion of the collection—in 1981, at the age of 11.

An insightful essay on the controversial company's potential and potential limitations.
American Apparel Goes Global by Lucinda Rosenfeld (Slate via The Daily)

Lambertson Truex to Arrive on Madison this Summer

692 Madison Avenue is getting an upgrade  of sorts. It's later for Via Spiga, and,  soon, hello to Lambertson Truex. The American luxury shoe and accessory brand will be moving in sometime this summer. The company chose Los Angeles to debut its first store, but the 1,800 square foot Madison Avenue boutique is mean to follow soon and in addition to the full line for men and women, will offer a bespoke service allowing customers to personalize their selections. Monogramming, exotic skins and exclusive colors will be available with prices starting at $3,000 and reaching to $25,000 and beyond. Six to eight U.S. Stores are planned for the next five years, but first we will be waiting for their NYC debut this Summer.

And You Thought They Were Gone: Daffy's Returns to Flatiron

When H&M took over their prized corner at Fifth Avenue and 18th Street, we pretty much thought that Daffy's would be gone from that particular shopping strip. But we shouldn't have underestimated that resilient retailer. they simply moved themselves one door down the block and re-opened. It's going to take a lot more to get rid of that off-pricer. Why the distaste for Daffy's? In the scheme of off-price discounters proliferating in Manhattan, (Filene's Basement, DSW, Loehmann's, Syms, Century 21, etc.) We always find Daffy's at the bottom of that increasingly messy heap. years ago, when they first appeared on lower Fifth, they often had a good selection of designer items in a relatively well kept store, but more recently, their stores have been more and more generous in their definition of "designer" clothes, and it is anyones guess when some of the merchandise was originally made. This goes in varying degrees for all of these stores, but since Daffy's is promoting their Grand Reopening in the area, you, dear readers, can take advantage of a special phenomenon we have noticed when these stores open, and that is an extra bump in the quality of the goods available, at least for a short time, to try to curry favor with new customers. When we visited the new Daffy's we saw a rack of menswear from Dolce & Gabbana at excellent prices (about 75% off typical retail), Oxxford suits, and even a couple of pairs of J.M. Weston black "demi-chasse" shoes for $149 instead of $675 which is the men's footwear equivalent of finding an Hermès Birkin Bag at a 75% discount. Downstairs in the Women's department similar needles were easier to find in the haystack including a table full of shoes from Giuseppe Zanotti, Christian Louboutin and DSquared2 at similarly low prices. Get 'em while you can, they won't be there for long.

Daffy's 3 East 18th Street, Flatiron District and other locations

Mike Albo Goes Shopping: Is Natural Retro Already?

We're putting our vote in now for Mike Albo. Zarah seems nice, and Horacio appears to be provincially limited to the Lower East Side, but Mike has been moving towards the delicate mix of personal and investigative that the Thursday Styles Critical Shopper column requires. This week, Mike uses his visit to the Origins store in the Flatiron Building to illustrate his slide from youthful optimism to slightly less youthful fear and world-weariness.

HOW I had forgotten the ’90s: that optimistic decade when I walked around with my sticky mat and precious new cellphone, as obsessively yogic and introspective as Madonna. I attended Ashtanga classes and imagined peace while in pigeon pose, thinking it was an effective way to contribute to global reform.
Now firmly in the post-you-know-what age, I had only vague memories of that serene decade until I walked into Origins, the quintessentially ’90s body-care brand. Stepping into the narrow, embracing store at the base of the Flatiron Building, I remembered how easy it was to feel good back then.

In short, we probably won't save the world after all by using natural skin care products, but it's nice to think we will. Origins was something of a pioneer back in the 90's, and its earthy attitude stood out in the department stores where the line was launched by The Estée Lauder Companies. As imitators sprung up, the novelty wore off, a bit, but revisiting the store it is reassuring to see popular products like Zero Oil and Spot Remover still in the line. The staff was friendly and helpful. In fact, the store is looking more like a pantry than a beauty store with a whole section of tea products, an entire ginger based collection, cocoa therapy products and all kinds of mint in everything. We had to laugh at a packet of mint seeds on the shelf. Then there's Dr. Weill's mushroom based treatment line. As we weary of all-natural and organic as marketing tools, it seems we will be moving on to food. Frankly, it just sorta made us hungry.

Critical Shopper: Save a Face, Save the World by Mike Albo (NYTimes)
Photo by Atsuko Tanaka for The New York Times

FIT Salutes Lilly Daché With a Glimpse at the Past

The Museum at FIT has a full house these days with its continuing exhibitions featuring Ralph Rucci and Color in Fashion. They have added a third attraction, the first retrospective featuring a legendary celebrity hat designer. Lilly Daché: Glamour at the Drop of a Hat looks back to a time when a hat was as essential an accessory as shoes, and Daché made the most of it . Her career ended naturally just at the moment when women abandoned hats as an everyday necessity. She was something of a pioneer, running her own business in the 1920's, and becoming a household word, in a time when there was such a thing as a famous hat designer. What is most fun about this small show organized and curated by FIT graduate students in the Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice Program, is all the hats. Daché was as inventive creatively as she was in business. Here is a rare chance to see an exceptional collection of the increasingly abstract structures that fashionable women perched on their heads from the 1920s through the 1960s, demonstrating an opportunity for creativity and expression mostly lost to the past.

Lilly Daché: Glamour at the Drop of a Hat
The Museum at FIT Seventh Avenue at 27th Street, Chelsea